Red-Faced Ryo
by badly-knitted
Summary: Dee catches Ryo getting into the festive spirit. A bit of Christmas fluff written for Challenge 16: Music at beattheblackdog.


**Title:** Red-Faced Ryo

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Ryo, Dee, mentions Bikky, Carol, and Mother.

 **Rating:** PG-13

 **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

 **Summary:** Dee catches Ryo getting into the festive spirit.

 **Word Count:** 1534

 **Written For:** Amnesty,using Challenge 16: Music at beattheblackdog.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

 **A/N:** With special thanks to my friend cyberiad_queen, who came up with Ryo the Red-Faced Detective and graciously allowed me to use the idea. Thank you, hope you like what I did with it!

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Christmas was fast approaching, and because of having to work overtime, Ryo was behind with his preparations. He hadn't even got any decorations up, so while Bikky was spending the day Christmas shopping with Carol, he set out in search of the perfect Christmas tree, hoping to get something much smaller than the one Dee had talked him into having for their first Christmas as a couple.

While the previous year's tree had certainly looked impressive, it had been a real struggle getting it up the stairs and into his apartment, and taking it back downstairs after Christmas, when it had been shedding needles all over the place, had been an even bigger pain. This year he'd decided to choose his own tree and decorate it before Dee could take over, but then work had got in the way. The only consolation Ryo had was that Dee was just as far behind in his preparations as he was.

However, at last both of them had the day off, and Dee was safely out of the way helping Mother and the children put up the decorations they'd made. He'd arranged for friends of his to deliver the orphanage's tree the week before, to avoid disappointing the kids, but Mother still needed someone tall to help string paper chains across the high ceilings, and naturally she'd asked Dee, who could never say 'No' to her.

Ryo was in high spirits as he began his quest and it wasn't long before he found his ideal tree. Standing around six foot six, it didn't look like it would be unmanageable to carry up three flights of stairs by himself, and once set in its tub it would only be about a foot taller, a nice height for decorating.

Lifting it out of his car and locking up, he gripped the root-ball and hoisted the tree against his shoulder, carrying it up the stoop, then taking the stairs in easy stages, pausing on each half-landing to catch his breath and re-position his burden. It was heavier than he'd thought, and by the time he reached his apartment door he was hot and sweaty, but it was with a sense of accomplishment that he let himself in, kicked the door closed behind him, and lugged the tree across his living room to where the tub waited for it.

He leaned the tree in the angle of the wall by the window and shed his winter coat, hat and gloves before tugging off his boots and leaving them by the door. Returning to the tree, he planted it in its tub and firmed the earth around its root-ball, then carefully removed the netting that had kept its branches restrained. That part of the job finished, Ryo left the tree to settle and went to take a much-needed shower.

Afterwards, he was never quite sure what possessed him to do it, but coming out of the bathroom freshly showered, dressed only in boxers and his bathrobe, instead of going into his bedroom to dress he went into the kitchen, intending to make himself a cup of tea. He was just about to put the kettle on when he remembered the half bottle of wine that was in the fridge, left over from the previous weekend. Wine seemed a more festive choice than tea, so he poured himself a glass and turned the radio on, finding a station playing Christmas music in an effort to get himself into the holiday spirit.

Wine in hand he ambled over to the boxes containing the tree decorations, thinking he'd just see what there was before getting dressed. The apartment was nice and warm, and he was alone, so there was no rush…

Soon he was thoroughly engrossed in sorting the decorations, singing along to the radio, and once started, it seemed silly to stop so he poured a second glass of wine and working from the bottom upwards, started to decorate the tree. The lower branches were easy, but as he got higher his bathrobe started getting in the way and after the third time it got caught on a branch and knocked a bauble off, he shrugged out of it and tossed it on the sofa. That was much better. He danced around the tree, adding more baubles and winding garlands of tinsel among the other decorations, belting out Christmas songs and having a great time. In fact he was so engrossed in what he was doing that he never even heard his door open.

As soon as Dee had finished helping with the orphanage's decorations, he'd headed over to Ryo's place, thinking that maybe he and Ryo could go pick out a tree, but glancing up at his partner's window, he'd seen Ryo already had one. Feeling a bit disappointed, he'd nonetheless gone upstairs because even if he wasn't needed for anything else, at least he could spend a bit of quality time with his baby. He seemed to remember Ryo telling him that Bikky would be gone until sometime the following day, shopping and then spending the night at Carol's…

Arriving at Ryo's door, Dee found it unlocked, not unusual when Ryo was home despite the number of times Dee had told him he should lock it. As he let himself in, the sight that met his eyes was unexpected, but certainly not unappreciated. Dressed only in his boxers, Ryo was dancing around the living room singing along to the radio. He had half a glass of wine in one hand, a fluffy length of red tinsel in the other, and a gold piece draped around his neck. Clearly he was oblivious to the fact that he had company.

Closing the door silently behind him, Dee just stood there watching his lover, who looked like he was having a wonderful time. He'd never heard Ryo singing like this, but he had a pretty decent voice, and as for his dance moves… It made Dee itch to join in. As the song on the radio came to an end, Ryo took a quick sip of wine, set his glass aside, and moved towards the tree with his tinsel. Grinning, Dee began to applaud, relishing the effect it had on Ryo.

Startled, Ryo spun towards the door, eyes wide. "Dee! What are you doing here? I didn't even hear you come in!"

"Looked like you were busy, so I figured I'd just wait until you were done. Nice dance moves, and I'm lovin' the outfit. Makes me feel kinda overdressed though."

"What?" Ryo looked down, suddenly remembering he was only wearing his shorts, and his face turned scarlet. "Oh God!" He scanned the room, looking for his bathrobe, but Dee kicked off his boots and strode over to him before he could move.

"So this is what you get up to when I'm not here, is it?" Dee's grin grew wider. "Gotta say I approve, although I wish I'd got here sooner so I could've seen more of the show."

Ryo's already flushed face grew even redder. "No one was meant to see that. God, what was I thinking?"

"Didn't look like you were thinkin' at all, just havin' fun; there's nothin' wrong with that."

"This is so embarrassing." Ryo covered his face with both hands, just wanting to hide.

"Hey, don't do that!" Dee tugged Ryo's hands away and studied his partner's red face. "Y'know, all you need is a pair of antlers and you could give Rudolph a run for his money," he teased. "Ryo the Red-Faced Detective."

"Don't make fun of me!" Ryo was beginning to get annoyed.

"Lighten up, babe; I'm just teasin' ya. For the record, that was so hot I could've watched you all day, 'cept I don't think I could've kept my hands to myself much longer." He tugged lightly on the tinsel garland Ryo had draped around him, pulling his lover closer. "Whaddaya say we finish the decoratin' later? I have a better idea for right now." A slow song was playing on the radio, and Dee slid his arms around Ryo, swaying them both slowly to the music while nibbling on his lover's ear, then licking down his neck to his collarbone. "Mmmm, you taste good."

Ryo groaned softly, pressing closer and winding his arms around Dee. Maybe it was because of the wine, or maybe it was something else, but he started tugging at Dee's shirt. "You're wearing too many clothes."

"So are you," Dee mumbled, sucking at Ryo's neck.

"All I have on are my shorts!"

"Exactly." Dee pulled back, smirking. "Wanna take this somewhere more comfortable and get out of 'em?"

Ryo nodded. "Yeah, but I should probably lock the front door first. Don't want anyone else walking in."

"Already done. You don't think I would'a left it, do ya? Some sights are for my eyes only."

That was fine with Ryo; if anyone had to catch him dancing in his underwear, he supposed he'd rather it be Dee. Leaving everything else exactly as it was, Ryo let his lover lead him into the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind them. The rest of the Christmas preparations would just have to wait.

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The End


End file.
